A movie that made a marriage and MGM's golden age, Vincente Minnelli's first colour feature (and what colour!) teamed the musical maestro with soon-to-be-Mrs Judy Garland, for a genre-transforming classic.
Abandoning the `putting on a show' style of backstage hoofers, it makes music part of the reality of a St Louis family, traumatised when Dad decides to uproot everyone to New York. That's it, plotwise, as coming-of-age vignettes unfold with infectious affection and spine-tingling tunes. Garland was only better in Wizard Of Oz: her rendition of `Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' still trembles the tearducts.
